To live a Normal Life
by Biosword
Summary: It has been two years since my adoptive sister and I had moved to Japan, the country of my origins. Two years since I promised my mentor to leave my old life and start a new one. Now with us entering high school, the future has never looked brighter. What can possibly go wrong?
1. The Start of a Beautiful School Year

**Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD or anything related to that.**

**Update: *Facepalm* Okay, I may already mentioned that while working on Chapter 2 that I went back and made a few edits for the sake of consistency and fixed a few mistakes.**

**Well just found out today (this update is written on January 19th) that I spelled Kuoh wrong this whole time and I unintentionally created a minor plot hole.**

**Hey we all make mistakes but don't worry this will definitely be the last time I will update this chapter because anymore will just pad this out.**

**I credit Fahad09 as my primary influence for this story.**

**Without further ado, here is the slightly revised first chapter.**

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><p>"Wake up, Issei! We don't want to be late on our first day!"<p>

I groaned and turned away from the door, "Please Asia, just five more minutes!"

"But you'll go back to sleep if I left you alone," she replied from outside my room.

My adoptive sister is right of course. One of the many things I value in my life is my sleep, in fact I am quite proud of myself for being a heavy sleeper. Then again, it's not like anyone would dare approach me whenever I fell asleep in the middle of class. After all, I am considered a delinquent back in middle school due to both that and my tendency to get into random fights with thugs. Then again…

"Wake up, Hyoudou-kun," a stern voice said.

And there goes sleeping in for today.

I opened my eyes and turned my head to see a petite girl with black hair styled in a bob-cut and blue trimmed glasses and dressed the female Kuoh Academy uniform. Ladies and Gentleman, this is Shitori Souna; fellow freshman, roommate, and future student council president who felt compelled to help **_all_** her fellow classmates, even delinquents like me. A classic stickler for rules, she apparently came to the conclusion that I was the one who needed her guidance even though we're in the same grade. Don't get me wrong, she is one of the few I actually did ended up befriending during junior high after moving back to Japan; but this won't be the last time she barge into my room to wake me up for school.

"Can you please get out of my room?" I grumbled.

"Afraid I can't do that you know."

"Come on, you know I'll show up eventually."

"No," she yanked off my blankets, "It wouldn't do to have you be late, especially on the first day of high school."

"You'll never take me there alive!" desperate for my beauty sleep I clung onto the bed like a sloth on a tree branch.

But then, the sound of Souna pressing buttons on her cell phone caused me to freeze, "No, please don't," I pleaded.

She puts the phone as it climes against her ear, "Tsubaki, Tomoe, I need your help with the idiot again."

"~Right away future Prez~," an awfully cheery voice answered.

Great, this is just great. Just what I need, her closest friends all coming to my house. Is privacy nonexistent with them?!

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><p>We must be quite a sight to see on our first day at Kuoh Academy, after all it's not every day you see a freshman girl carrying a boy over her shoulder. I think my protesting to this treatment from Tsubaki may have caught most of their attention. Behind Tsubaki and I is Souna whose blank expression probably hid her amusement to this, and Tomoe and Asia who are chatting animatedly about our new school year.<p>

"Can you seriously put me down?! We're here already!" I cry out.

"But Hyoudou-kun, we still need to find out what homeroom each of us is going to be in," Tomoe said in a mock hurt tone.

"Besides," Asia added, "You really should stop staying up if you want them to stop showing up."

"This is harassment I say! It's a free country, I have rights you know!"

"Hyoudou-kun," Souna spoke up, "as soon as I become Student Council President, I'll make sure that everyone will make on time no matter the cost."

I shudder at the thought because she actually can do that, then again it must be her charming personality that helped her. Must be why she is such a pleasant person to talk to.

All around us though the other students didn't share my perspective on my very strict friend here, in fact they are all baffled at the fact that we know each other to begin with. I myself find myself questioning the sanity of my own species when the male portion of the student population threw jealous glares at me while the female portion gossip about our supposed relationship.

Oh right, I forgot to mention that Kuoh Academy used to be an all-girls school and it recently became co-ed. The school itself is, to put it lightly, very well-maintained. Heck the main school building itself looks more like a manor than an ordinary school building. I'm sure you can now guess why most of the guys were eager to transfer here. Why am I here? Well, all my friends are here and one of them mentioned that it would be a lot easier to keep an eye on me if I go here. What supportive friends I have! Still I have to admit, this certainly is better than going to a school where the chances of anyone approaching me being close to nonexistent. Still…

"You can't just take away my rights, damn it!"

"If I were you," Tsubaki said in stern voice, "I would worry more about your education. Just consider yourself fortunate that Kaichou is doing her best to help you out."

"Precisely the reason I ended up befriending you guys in the first place," I replied dryly.

"My my, you make it sounds as if it was a bad thing," a familiar teasing voice said.

Standing near the tree we were just going to pass is Gremory Rias and Himejima Akeno. If I were to be honest here, I only met them after Souna introduced me to them. After all, it is quite difficult to get close to the two most attractive ladies of the school. Rias for having very long, vibrant red hair, European features, and an upbeat nature. Akeno on the other hand is a classic yamato nadeshiko due to her gentle smile she seem to carry around, appears to be of Japanese descent, and long black hair tied in a ponytail. Oh and of course they both have very impressive figures, almost like an hourglass. Then again now that I think about it, a lot of the girls here seem to share the 'hourglass' body type for some reason. Huh, no wonder why Kuoh Academy is a dude magnet, must be some divine being's doing.

"Hello again Himejima-san," I deadpanned, "Rias-chan," I then quickly added.

"Oh my Issei-kun," Akeno replied as her mischievous smile grew, "Am I not one of your closest friends?"

Man, I knew it! She is getting ideas from this morning I just know it.

"By the way, I thought I asked you to call me Buchou," Rias pouted.

"But you haven't started your new club yet," I complained, "That would just be false advertising."

"Don't worry Issei-kun, it won't be false for long."

These guys, I knew them for what two years but it felt much longer than that. I wonder how things would be different had I lived in Kuoh rather than in Rome, would I have befriend them like this? Ah sensei, if only you were still here.

"Right right," I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, "How is everyone?"

"They're doing just fine," Rias then turns her attention towards Tsubaki, "Oh by the way, how long do you plan on carrying him like that anyway?"

She responded by unceremoniously dropping me on my bottom. "Ah, I suppose a little warning would be nice," I said exasperatedly.

"Think of this as a wakeup call," Tsubaki stated as if it is the most obvious reason why she did that.

Asia approached me and offered a hand, "Thanks," I said as she pulled me up.

"Now," Souna said from behind me, "How about we find out what homeroom we're going to be in."

"Yeah sure," I said and we all walked to the large whiteboard at the front of the school building where our names and the homeroom assigned to each student is.

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><p>It is now lunch and I have to say I kind of missed my old life but I promised I would live here so can't back out now. While my friends went off to hang with the other students during lunch, I'm trying to take a nap under a tree near the tennis courts when I heard unmanly screaming, angry yelling from girls, and the sound of tramping footsteps heading towards me.<p>

"Help us, Issei!"

Everyone let me introduce you to my two idiot friends, Matsuda and Motohama. Matsuda is bald and a former jock in junior high. Motohama wears strange looking glasses that seems to hide his eyes and he is a genius in mathematics. The one trait they have in common: their obsession with the female body. Honestly when I first met them, I thought they were just unlucky losers that just happen to attract a lot of thugs. After reacquainting the thugs to my fists, we slowly began to hang out. Oh well I suppose one reason why I hang out with them is because, asides from Asia, I don't have anyone else to call a friend. That is until I met Souna during one of my nightly patrols. Since then I began my search for a suitable therapist for them.

"Hey Hyoudou! Are you going to help them or us?!" one of the pursuers shouted.

So far I haven't been successful. I know liking girls is great and all but there is a thing called boundaries. You know I suppose a lot of my friends like to ignore boundaries, just different types if you want to be specific.

Opening my eyes, sitting up, and then glancing to the right I noticed the two peeping toms being chased by a large group of girls wielding shinais. So it looks like the Kendo team caught them in the act. To be honest I would rather watch the scene unfold before me, maybe invite Koneko along as well with a bucket of popcorn. Great, I've been hanging out with Akeno for too long.

"Perverts…" an emotionless voice said from right behind me.

"How's your day, Koneko-chan?" I glance to my left to find her sitting with her back against the tree.

Toujou Koneko, the little white haired girl with hazel eyes and a hairclip shaped like a smiling cat's head looked like she belong in middle school had it not been for her school uniform she received this year. Despite what her small frame would've suggest, she surprisingly packs a really mean punch as I once witness her take out a few thugs once. She also has a large appetite as she is often found snacking on sweets. Where did it all go, who knows and I doubt God himself would know. Perhaps into the ridiculously compact muscles, hyper active metabolism, I really don't know. Personally wise, she has the emotional range of a doll at first glance. Makes me wonder how she landed in the position of school mascot for a while at least until I knew her better. Now I definitely see her as someone you want to watch your back despite being seen as a cute little girl you just want to hug by the general populace.

"Alright…"

"Glad to know," I said, "what should we do right now?"

"Let the perverts suffer," she bluntly replied.

"You're such a pleasant person to have a conversation with, Koneko, you know that?" I deadpanned.

At this point Matsuda and Motohama reached us, grabbed us, and hid behind us while clutching onto our uniforms. The kendo club stopped right in front of us and glared daggers at them for daring to use the school mascot and the school delinquent as meat shields.

I sighed before addressing the two, "What is porn not good enough for you guys anymore?"

"Shut up and save us from these overreacting girls!" Motohama cried out from behind me, "Why must we be punished for being ourselves?! That's hypocritical advice, don't you agreed?!"

"Oi, I can't bail you guys forever," I turned my attention towards the kendo club, "By the way would you guys happen to know any good therapists for these guys?"

One of them spoke up, the team captain presumably, "Yes my father is one, but I'm sure I would be good enough," she said as an evil looking smile spreads on her face causing my two openly perverted friends to tremble.

"Really," I perked up at the fact I may have finally found a therapist though in hindsight it may have involved many, many bruises, "Thanks."

"Wait please don't do this Issei! We're bros, right?!" Matsuba cried panicky as the girls freed Koneko and me from their clutches.

"And bros look after bros, don't worry I'm definitely looking out after you guys," Koneko and I began to leave, "I'm sure you can thank me later."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Come back you traitor!"

"I swear I'll make you see the truth!"

"Oh we rather have Hyoudou stay the way he is thank you very much," the team captain said.

Oh I have seen the truth alright, the truth is girls are terrifying. Well the ones I know anyways.

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><p>Night has fallen when Asia and I came out the supermarket with the groceries. As we enjoy our evening stroll back into our neighborhood, a feeling of dread washed over me. It wasn't notice it at first but as things slowly grew eerily quiet, it grew until I felt the need to grab Asia and escaped from whatever's causing. Asia seems to be affected as well as she is now taking very shaky steps and her face is glistened by cold sweat. I clenched my fists to force myself to calm down, my heart pounding away at a maddening pace, my clothes getting drenched by sweat, my breathing coming out in uneasy gasps.<p>

In front of us on this abandoned street is a tall cloaked figure causally making his way towards us, I don't what he wants but he seems to be the source of this feeling of dread. That heavy cloak covered everything leaving only strands of long golden hair poking out of the hood. When he is now standing right next to us, my knees are buckling under this oppressive presences, and I'm pretty sure we're close to wetting ourselves.

"Beware children of Adam and Eve, there be monsters lurking about in this city," a soft angelic voice spoke to us, definitely the last thing I expect this figure to sound like.

The ominous atmosphere quickly left us and then the figure walked away towards the way we came. When we turned around, there was no one there.

Shaken by this strange encounter, we hastily made our made way towards our house. A pretty nice building with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a basement, and a kitchen. I took out my house keys, unlocked the door, and we walked into the living room after leaving our shoes near the front door.

"Asia, take a shower and change into something else, I'll take care of the groceries," I took the rest of the bags from her and bought them into the kitchen.

"What about you?" she asked, "And what the hell did we just run into?!"

"I don't know and I'm glad he or it didn't attack us because that would've killed us."

"Ugh, even if we came out of that alive, I think I'm going to have nightmares for weeks," she left and went towards her room.

My cell phone then vibrate in my pocket to let me know that I received a text message. Taking it out, it is a message from Souna.

'Busy with a request from our clients, start dinner without me- Souna'

'Okay', I typed, 'Be back soon :)- Issei'

"Well I guess I better get cleaned up before getting dinner ready," I muttered to myself as I grabbed some clothes from my wardrobe and went to the second bathroom, "Looks like we're going to have ramen again."

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><p>I have to say, I'm glad my best friend and rival, Sona Sitri lived in the same city as I, Rias Gremony. Otherwise this mission would've ended badly for my peerage and I if what the letter I received today is to be believed. Apparently a group of ten stray devils had taken up residence in this abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, responsible for the mysterious disappearances of the humans residing in the neighborhood closest to the warehouse. One of my duties as a devil of the House of Gremony is to eliminate them.<p>

Stray Devils are, to put it briefly, devils without a master. To properly explain stray devils, I will need to explain the concept behind the evil pieces system used by most devils. Due to the Great War with the angels and fallen angels and the Civil War between the Old Moau faction and the Anti-Moau faction, the devil race had suffered heavy causalities, leaving our species close to extinction. Fortunately a devil now one of the four Satans: Ajuka Beelzebub came up with situation in the form of magical chess pieces called evil pieces. With these pieces a high class devil such as myself can reincarnate any sentient being of another species (Angels are excluded of course) into a devil. However we are only given a limited amount so we usually turn the strongest ones we can find, such as sacred gear users but that is an explanation for another time.

Anyways the reincarnated devils now serve under one master in the peerage who is given the role of 'king'. Depending on what chess pieces are used to reincarnate the person lucky enough to receive them, they will gain the abilities that is associated with the role.

The Pawn is by default the weakest piece in the peerage, however it can be your greatest trump card should you play your cards right. Should someone become a pawn, he or she will receive minor physical boosts due to their body changing into the physicality of the average devil and the ability to promote into a knight, bishop, rook, or queen when in enemy territory or with given permission from the king.

The knight is exactly what the title usually implies, a swords user. However the most noteworthy ability of the knight is the insane speed granted to them because apparently the unique movements of the knight piece in chess translates into making yourself a speeding blur. But the knights are, at best, glass cannons due to the potential to dealing a lot of damage by out speeding the majority of the enemy but at the cost of weak strength and defense.

The rook is the exact opposite of the knight; tough, great offensive power, and lackluster speed (by devil standards). Aside from the queen, they are usually the most physically strongest members of the peerage. Of course at the cost of gaining the strength of a tank, they also move around the same speeds as an average human which is slow by devil standards.

The bishop doesn't gain any physical boosts, instead they gain a massive boost in their magic reserves making magic users more powerful than they are prior to being changed into a devil. With the benefits of a much larger supply of magic at their fingertips, previously draining magical techniques can now be used more frequently. However, should the bishop exhaust their magical reserves, they're just as vulnerable as a pawn, only without access to the ability to promote themselves.

And lastly the queen who is basically the knight, rook, and bishop combined. Often the most versatile and most powerful of all, the queen is most definitely not a force to be taken lightly. Due to the massive amounts of power granted to them, they can afford to lead the other pieces in the peerage in the front lines on place of the king, as such they are often the king's second-in-command. The cost of this power, the massive strain on the queen's body; after all supporting all powers of a knight, rook, and bishop requires stamina. In fact some matches in the Rating Games are won when the queen has exhausted himself or herself protecting their king.

Now with all this talk about chess, there must some reason why I'm revealing all this. The reason: the Rating Games, which is basically chess combined with gladiatorial combat. The implications may seem horrifying at first but deaths are very rare in these matches. Sure you can get horribly maimed but the heavily injured devils will get retired from the match and immediately teleported to the hospital to recover to full health. As such the games are used as a popular way to settle disputes and as a pastime. I am not old enough to participate yet but I have been given plenty of time to prepare by gathering a suitable peerage after gaining my own set of evil pieces on my 10th birthday.

Okay now how does this relate to stray devils? Since the 'king' of peerage is the one who converted others into their peerage, they are technically their master since anyone who is reincarnated automatically becomes a low class devil. No matter how much the devils had changed, power remains as one of the most important component in our social statue. As such my peerage is required to be loyal to me. Personally I see my peerage more like a family, so I did my best to take care of them. However there are some devils that are against the idea of a master-servant relationship, sometimes with justifiable reasons. As such they might become a stray devil by either running away or murdering their master, should that happen we are told to eliminate on sight because we feared how they will affect the humans, our source of strength. Now, despite popular beliefs about us, we don't go around taking other people's souls after all it's more beneficial for both species if we don't turn humans into lifeless bodies after we completed their requests.

"Rias," Sona's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, "Shall I call for back up?"

"Why?" I asked, "I'm pretty sure both our peerages can handle this."

My current peerage members so far consists of a knight, a rook, a bishop, and a queen. Kiba Yuuto is my knight, already on his first year of high school he is already attracting girls much to his dismay. The blonde foreign first year student has the sacred gear Sword Birth which allowed him to create demonic swords with varying effects. Toujou Koneko is the sole rook of the team, super strength and near impenetrable defense combined with martial arts training made her quite the powerhouse even if she didn't look the part. The bishop, Vladi Gasper is powerful due to his sacred gear but he has trouble controlling it so I am forced to lock him up somewhere safe. And lastly my queen and best friend, Himejima Akeno who is known in the underworld as the priestess of thunder due to her preferred method of attack.

Sona's peerage at the moment has a similar set-up as mine. Shinra Tsubaki is the queen of the group; personally wise she is very similar to Sona though she seems to be content with her position as her right hand woman. In battle, she appears to favor a Naginata, a sword blade attached to a long pole. Yura Tsubasa is the name of Sona's only rook; the blunette is quite a tomboy and isn't afraid to get dirty in a fight if what I heard about is correct. The cheerful brunette with the Katana is Meguri Tomoe, her sole knight. And lastly, Hanakai Momo the bishop and the most recent addition to her peerage so not much I know about her. Though if Sona's recent boasts to me were to be believed, she may have found potential candidates for pawns, the remaining slot for rook, the remaining slot for knight, and the remaining slot for bishop.

"I don't know Rias," Sona is questioning my confidences in both our peerages! "It is reasonable to assume that we are facing potentially difficult enemies, and should the worst case scenario happened I doubt we'll make it to my house."

"I see," I mused, "Well do you have whoever it is on speed dial?"

"Yes I do, besides my house isn't too far here so it takes around fifteen minutes to get there by bike and it turns out my roommate is an experienced medic should we need to retreat there."

"Wouldn't it be faster to give us your address so we can teleport there instead of walking there?" Sona and I pressed my hands on the huge door and began to push it open.

"No need for that, Rias. Everyone in my peerage knew where I lived so we'll be your transport out of here during the worst case scenario."

Reasonable thinking but then again I've never visited her house these past two years so why open up now? (_Potential Candidates_) Perhaps her roommate highly valued their privacy. (_Potential Candidates_) Maybe they don't like visitors. (_Potential Candidates_) Or maybe she found a boyfriend… Oh that's just not fair! Well I guess I should be happy that my seemingly untouchable friend had already found her significant other but it's just not fair since she once again claimed a victory over me, especially since she wasn't in a situation… like mine. Well I'll find out that's the case later if I can.

The inside of the warehouse is pitch black, void of anything, and large clumps of dust and broken glass lay scattered throughout the warehouse. The darkness usually isn't much of an issue as devils possess superior night vision to humans but what little moonlight peers through the incredibly small windows barely illuminates this cold, dark, eerie space. The sounds of something shuffling in the darkness are the telltale signs that this place is currently occupied.

"My… My…. What do we have here my friends?" a deep booming voice calls out from the darkness.

A wicked slimy voice answered, sending chills down my spine, "They smell… delicious. A rare treat actually."

"True," a distinctly female voice said, "It's not every day you get to eat a devil. Perhaps they'll taste better than the scum we're forced to feed off of."

Gathering about my wits, I called out into the darkness trying to sound as confident as I can, "For your crimes against both devil kind and humankind."

"I, Sona of the House of Sitri."

"And I, Rias of the House of Gremony thereby declared you all to be executed by our hands."

Silences greets our declaration for justice before the female stray devil spoke up, "My, I had almost forgotten how theatrical those high class devils are."

"Yeah," the slimy one replied, "And better yet, it's the damn little sisters of Lucifer and Leviathan. It would be a most terrible fate if anything were to happen to them…"

"I agree, let's get rid of the nuisances before touching them, what do you say my dear friends?" the female devil said as she steps out of the shadows, revealing a female human upper body fused to horse's body, a centaur.

"Here here Viser," a Minotaur followed behind her. His heavily muscular body riddled with deep scars, one of his horns is snapped off, dark mangy fur hung loosely all over it, and his deep booming voice just spelled how much trouble we're in.

The sounds of frantic beeping nearby alerted me to the fact that Sona is texting someone for help.

"Who are you calling?" I nervously asked.

"BACKUP!" she snapped back at me.

"Well when can we expect whoever it is to show up?!" I felt a rush of demonic energy running through my right arm and into my index finger, causing a black-reddish sphere to glow at the very tip of the finger.

"I don't know honestly, I can only hope he isn't too busy at the moment!" Ha, so she does have a boyfriend. I can't wait to meet him though I wondered why he hasn't joined her peerage yet.

The other eight stray devils revealed themselves and their eyes are filled with anticipation for the slaughter that will surely take place. Two of them are twin girls whose inhumane beauty indicate that the two were once succubus and the long thin claws growing from their fingers, eyes glazed over by bloodlust, and the bloodstains on their long white dresses and faces only add to the inhumane aura they're emitting. Another was a vampire, in addition to his fangs his skin is very sickly white, his head bald and eyes huge white orbs darting back and forth deciding which one he wants the most, and last of all he is wearing nothing but a loincloth. Four of them were lamias, another mythological creature where the top half is human and the bottom half is that of a snake; their hair colors corresponding with the color of their snake tails and blouses which are red, yellow, purple, and white. The last one is a Gashadokuro, a giant skeleton that drinks the blood of humans after it bites their heads off; while they are normally roughly twenty seven meters/ninety feet tall, this one stood only about five meters/eighteen feet meaning its creation process is botched which thankfully made it easier to deal with.

"Buchou," Yuuto spoke up, "It is best we retreat to a more favorable battlefield."

"Right, think they will follow us," I pointed my right index finger at the stray devils and launched the floating orb, my signature attack known as the Power of Destruction. A powerful explosive attack that has the capabilities to disintegrate all matter.

"Most likely," he replied.

Sona quickly took the initiative by ordering Momo and Akeno to blast down the whole warehouse while I lead the rest of the peerages out of the building. I ran as fast I could towards the park; Koneko, Yuuto, and Tomoe directly behind me, followed by Tsubaki and Tsubasa; Sona, Akeno, and Momo bought up the rear. The park itself is fortunately abandoned at this time, all there really is to see are lampposts littering throughout a tiled walkway, a large fountain in the center, and large areas of grass and trees. The sky itself is now full of dark clouds, cutting off the moonlight and leaving our only source of illumination being the lampposts.

Sona started to text again furiously when we got there while muttering "hurry up" under her breath.

"Is he responding at all," I asked anxiously, "Because the most we probably did is slow them down."

Yes, an attack that can disintegrate matter and an attack that collapsed an entire warehouse on them only slowed those monsters down. Hopefully we took out a few of them.

"I don't know what he is doing right now but he isn't answering the phone yet," she said dryly.

"Okay, so is he reliable at least?"

"Very, you could said he has experience in this sort of situation."

What a vague description, one possibility of this mystery person could be an exorcist but no exorcist in their right mind would willingly assist devils. A yokai would be out of the question due to a certain incident. Fallen Angels and Angels alike will most likely throw light spears first and ask questions later. An unknown Scared Gear user perhaps?

"I hope you're right, we'll hold the line until he arrives."

They arrived at the park of course, but not unscathed from our attempt to slow them. In fact the Gashadokuro seem to have taken the majority of the damage as its right half has been obliterated but despite the crippling blow my attack must have dealt to it, it is regenerating its arm, leg, and half of its torso and face out of _nothing_. No wonder why this Japanese monster is nearly impossible to kill. The other stray devils though only got off with minor scratches and they seem to be unfazed at the fact we just drew blood.

The centaur, the one known as Viser starting cackling as they crept closer and closer to us, covering the park in fog, "Hahahahaha! I had forgotten what it was like to have prey fighting back! Man, I must have spent too much time slaughtering those worthless humans!"

"Ah, shit," I swore under my breath, it seem these stray devils really have gone off the deep end.

Large pillars of water formed around our group, "Everyone, brace yourselves," Sona raised her arms, twist them as if to turn two knobs, and then closed her fists and bought them down, causing the large pillars to launch themselves at the monsters.

The lamias scattered as the Minotaur and the Gashadokuro stepped forward to take the blows.

"Well since they retreated here," one of the lamias said, "How about we used our specialty?"

"PROMOTION: QUEEN!" they announced as they became streaks of color flying at us.

Then a wet brown haired figure wearing a bright crimson sweatshirt, black jeans, and sneakers appeared on a bicycle and punched one of the lamias, sending her to flying into the rest of her sisters causing them to land sprawled in a pile.

"What took you?!" Sona snapped at the figure who is now circling back towards us.

The figure pointed at his soaking wet hair as a familiar voice came out of his mouth, "Sorry I just finished taking a shower when I noticed your message." Then he let out a sigh of exasperation, "Ha, my first time I am summoned by a devil and already I've done a terrible job."

"That is your reason for nearly leaving us to become stray devil chow?!" Sona is now shaking indignantly.

"Hey, who the hell are you, foolish human?" Viser spoke up, shock that a human dared to interrupt our fight.

A red spiky gauntlet decorated by green gems formed on the human male's left arm as he introduced himself, "My name is Hyoudou Issei and…" A portion of the gauntlet opened up and released a hilt of a sword which is now held in his left hand, causing a blade of light to extend from it, "Welcome to Kuoh!"

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Okay ladies and Gentlemen, the first chapter of this story is up!<strong>

**Feedback and Constructive Criticism is very much appreciated.**

**As an alternate universe fic, I plan on both adding new events and putting my own twist on canon events.**

**If you have any new ideas, let me know!**

**However I should let you know beforehand that I won't be doing any lemons in this because I will most likely botched it up and the fact that most of the protagonists are underage.**

**Still what I want to do here is write a story with relatable characters.**

**So thank you and have a good day.**


	2. To Reintroduce One's Self

**Hello again, Biosword here with another chapter for this story.**

**I was going to release this a few days earlier but I ended spending most of New Years day stuck in traffic with my parents. Yeah not exactly the best way to start the year.**

**Still better late than never eh?**

***Cue crickets***

**Yeah I clearly need to set a schedule for myself.**

**Oh well, without further ado here is Chapter 2.**

**Update: fixed a few mistakes I missed, added a few sentences to have this flow better, and replaced "said" with "hissed" on one sentence.**

* * *

><p>"Wait, you mean you were an exorcist and the holder of Boosted Gear this whole time?!" Rias cried out in disbelief shortly after I made my appearance.<p>

"Hey Hyoudou," I turned my head to notice Yuuto Kiba, the blond pretty boy with the beauty mark under his left eye, pointing his sword at me, glaring at me and speaking in a hostile tone, "How do I know you weren't going to back-stab us after this is over."

There are more urgent manners to deal with here but I might as well assure him so he doesn't back-stab me, "First of all, I'm a former exorcist and second of all, I've lived with Sona these past two years."

"What?!" Rias looked flabbergasted as she turns towards Koneko, Sona herself just sighs in exasperation since I let the cat out the bag, "Koneko, can you please explain why you told us that his Sacred Gear is a Twice Critical and why you didn't mention that Sona is living with him?"

She looks back at her blankly before replying, "They fed me…"

"You mean to tell me that they bribed you with food in exchange for your vow of secrecy?!" Rias appears to be on the verge of pulling her hair out as Koneko nods shamelessly. The rest of us probably would have giant sweat drops hanging onto the back or side of our heads if this were an anime or manga when we witnessed this exchange in front of us.

"Uh hey, how we go back to the part where we're going to slaughter you all now, what do you say?" the centaur stray devil spoke up after snapping out of her astonishment of the events unfolding before her.

"Right," I got off my bike, my legs ready to spring towards the enemy, "Hey pretty boy!"

"Yes?" his hostile tone is replaced by that of curiosity and caution towards my actions.

"How about we see how many stray devils each of us can take down. Last place has to make bentos for everyone for a whole week, what do you say?"

A small smile appeared on his face as a second sword appears in his hand, "You're on."

Not surprisingly, Koneko is the first one to charge at them.

[**She must really want those bentos really badly, right partner?**]

Right, anyways the deep booming voice that just spoke to me is-

[**Ddraig, the most badass dragon you've ever met!**]

Yeah, said the dragon who is trapped in the gauntlet permanently attached to my left arm.

[**Hey, to be fair God and the Devil himself were responsible for my and the white one's imprisonment.**]

"Hey Hyoudou, we could use some help right about now!" Sona shouted as she threw the Minotaur right at me with a water tentacle.

Ddraig, why don't you properly introduce yourself while I take care of this. With the blade of light in my left hand, I thrust it forward and the tip effortlessly came out the Minotaur's back.

[**Very well.**]

[**_Boost!_**]

I felt a sensation, not unlike that of a river flowing through my body as my sword cleaves off the Minotaur's head. The lack of blood from the act is due to the fact that the wounds being cauterized by my blade of light.

[**_Boost!_**]

[**I am Ddraig, one of the Heavenly Dragons and due to my great strength am known by many as the Red Dragon Emperor. The gauntlet I currently reside in is called Boosted Gear, its main ability is quite self-explanatory.**]

The river of power grew within me as every ten seconds went by, soon I'll be able to take them all down and go home for dinner.

[**_Boost!_**]

[**The only limits to how much the host can hold the energy used to boost their allies or their own strength is their physical condition, as such rigorous training is required to control this energy. The second ability in this Sacred Gear is…**]

"Hyoudou, I need a boost!" I looked up to see Sona floating above and in the process of creating large ice spears.

[**_Transfer!_**]

I aimed the green sphere of energy at Sona, so she can make more of them.

[**_Reset!_**]

"Everyone, pull out right now!"

Allies and enemies alike scattered as they rain down toward the park at blinding speeds. Miraculously they didn't hit anyone but since the stray devils are now separated from each other…

[**_Boost!_**]

I rushed towards one of the lamias as she took notice and responded in kind.

[**_Boost!_**]

I swung my blade at her head but she bend backwards causing my blade to fly over her and then she sprung up into me, knocking me down onto my back.

[**_Boost!_**]

We tumbled onto the pavement, my light sword flung itself out of my hands.

[**_Boost!_**]

The snake tail coiled around my waist, lifting me up to her face.

[**_Boost!_**]

Her right hand gently lifted my chin for me to see a small but wicked smile appear on the lamia's face.

[**_Boost!_**]

Her left hand began to stroke the side of my cheek. My left arm is throbbing. "You know you are rather cute for a human," she cooed, "And so strong too, I can only wish there were some way we can convert you."

[**_Boost!_**]

"Oh well," she shrugged, "Maybe I can convince them to let me keep you as a pet."

[**_Boost!_**]

A smirk appeared on my face, "Sorry but I rather enter a relationship by my own free will."

[**_Explosion!_**]

Instantly my body tore through by a sensation I can only describe as _power_. This power, it burns me inside and out yet it strengthens me. It swirls inside me chaotically, threatening to tear me apart, demanding **_release_**!

Using the claws of the gauntlet, I shoved my left hand through the lamia's chest and quickly yanked it out of the now spurting, bloody hole. Her expression became that of mild shock as her body went limp, releasing me. Landing on my feet, I can still see the lamia's glazed over eyes staring at me, as if to ask _why_.

[**That's a bit brutal for you, don't you think?**]

Yes, Ddraig but I know I can sleep easier knowing those monsters won't be around to kill more humans. Besides I might as well end this as soon as possible before my body breaks down from the strain from supporting this energy.

[**By the way does your adoptive sister know you're out here? Because you'll definitely give her a heart attack when she sees you come back in this state.**]

Don't worry I left her a note telling her where I went and to expect guests for dinner.

I walk over to the hilt of the sword and the blue flame sprung back to life in my hands. A blur came towards my left; I instinctively spun to the left, my blade intercepting the claws of a succubus.

"Not bad," after all not many devils can fight back against a light sword wielded by an expert.

"You're not so bad yourself, human," she leap back only for another one to show up from behind me. I barely dodged to the left as the claws scratched my right arm.

I retaliated, my legs pushing me toward the two succubus, sword pointed at the ground and trailing behind me. A hoarse cry escaped my lips as I leaped towards the one standing on the left. Their claws constantly deflecting my sword strikes but we knew that it won't be long until I finally break through their defenses.

However Koneko suddenly appeared grabbed one of the succubus by the right arm and slammed her down head first into the ground, no doubt turning her brain into mush from the impact. Seeing the other succubus is now distracted by the death of her twin, I swooped in and impaled her.

Pulling my blade back out of the now deceased succubus, I turned my attention towards Koneko.

"So, how many did you take out?" I asked.

"Four," she said casually.

I briefly scanned my eyes over the park to notice the vampire buried head first into the ground, his lower half is sticking out and not moving. Nearby are the other three lamias, two are covered in cuts and each have a large hole on their chests and one is bent in unnatural angles. The centaur appears to be violently tore in half, what remained of it is now lying in a growing pool of blood and guts. And worst of all, my bike now smashed into broken steel rods and bits of rubber scattered throughout the park.

Turning my head away from the gruesome scene, I could see everyone else fighting the Gashadokuro, the last stray devil to take out. Whoever their former king was must have both really loved monsters and have incredibly stupid luck to recruit them at all.

"Everyone move out of the way right now!" I pointed my gauntlet at the seemingly invulnerable skeleton, a red sphere forming in front of my open palm. Seeing that I am about to fire a powerful attack, Sona pined the skeleton down with four large icicles, two of them through the feet and the other two through the palms. Glowing green veins appeared all over my body, each of them felt like several hot pokers stabbing in different places as they pumped the remaining energy into my left arm. My devil friends had successfully pulled out, leaving the now seemingly frightened skeleton.

The green gems on the gauntlet now shines like the brightest stars in the night sky, indicating that my attack is now at full charge, "Let's see you come back from the dead now! Dragon Shot!"

The floating red sphere burst open like an egg, releasing an energy beam as large as a freight train that struck the stray devil, causing a large explosion to engulf part of the park. Small rocks and dirt rained down on us as the smoke clears up, revealing a large trench and a crater now a permanent feature of the park and a twitching skeleton that had finally stopped regenerating from its wounds.

"Damn, I didn't get… him…," I started to fall forward but small and strong arms caught me, guiding my left arm over her shoulders, "Thanks… Ko…ne…ko…chan…"

A black-reddish energy orb fired from Rias is what finished off the skeleton, with the side effect of making the crater deeper in the trench I made.

"Well, that was fun," Tsubasa, the blunette tomboy from Sona's peerage spoke up.

"Yeah sure…" I am now leaning on my little strong friend for support.

[**Partner, I think we should start training your body again so it can readjust to the gauntlet's power.**]

What am I out of shape by dragon standards?!

[**Technically, yes.**]

CURSE YOU HOMEWORK! You caused me to slack off on my training!

[**… You should be cursing the strict devil instead…**]

Oh, okay let me change that. Ahem, CURSE YOU SONA AND YOUR ABSURDLY HIGH EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS!

"Hyoudou-kun," I snapped my head up to see Sona's face uncomfortably close to mine.

Eh, she couldn't read minds… could she? The thought of that would definitely send me is a panicky state.

[**Sorry, can't exactly tell you but I wouldn't really be surprised if she could.**]

Well … um… that's not very reassuring, Ddraig.

"Hyoudou, were you paying attention to what I'm saying to you?"

"What?" I said blankly, I glance around to see that our merry little group is close to my house. Huh, we must have teleported while I was talking to Ddraig. Speaking of our group, everyone seems to have escaped with small cuts and bruises though Akeno is leading on Rias for support while panting and blushing heavily.

… I'm probably better off not knowing what is going through her head at this moment.

Sona face palmed for what, the 60th time today? "I said you should be more aware of your limits as a Boosted Gear wielder, do I have to make myself clear again?"

I let out a deep sigh of annoyance, "You're never going to stop reminding me, are you?"

"Nope and we'll have to discuss this in more detail later, Issei-san."

Yes, in no doubt in a long, serious lecture.

"So," Rias spoke up as we near the front door, Koneko dragging me there as my body is too damaged from the strain of firing a gigantic laser of death, "Is there really anything going on between you two?"

"I can assure you, Rias that such a relationship between Hyoudou-kun and myself is very improper considering who we are," she replied calmly.

"I… see…" did Rias sound disappointed just now?

Sona opened the door and entered first, "Asia-chan, we're home and we have guests!"

"Be right there!" she called out from the kitchen.

We filed into the living room after leaving our shoes at the front door where I collapsed onto the couch to rest my very sore body, Koneko joined me placing my head on her lap. The second couch is now occupied by a still flushed Akeno, Rias, and Tsubaki. Yuuto is leaning with his back on the wall with his arms folded, Sona stood next to the couch I'm lying on, and Tomoe, Tsubasa, and the girl with the white hair (Hanakai Momo if I remember correctly) found some chairs nearby. Asia appeared from the kitchen wearing her light green pajamas decorated with crosses and a white apron that said 'Jesus died for our sins'.

"Again Issei?" she said sadly when she saw the sorry state my body is in.

"Don't worry," Sona stated calmly, "This time the idiot only had a minor cut on his arm and over-strained his body after boosting eight times."

"Oh my lord," Asia threw up her arms in mock despair, "Why do I have this idiot as my older brother?"

"Sorry I couldn't resist the chance to fight some stray devils but hey we're back and quite famished, right Koneko?"

"Yes, Issei-senpai," she said.

We're in the same grade, remember? Though I didn't say that out loud since I had long since given up on convincing Koneko otherwise.

"Alright," Asia sighs exasperatedly, "but how about you rest while I go next time."

"You?" Kiba Yuuto asked in disbelief, "What can you do exactly?"

"Believe or not, but my father had taught both Issei and I. Though Issei ended up becoming his apprentice while my own life… Well let's just say it steered me away from my family." she explains, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"I see…" Yuuto stared back down at the wooden floor of the living room, "You're a daughter of an exorcist, huh."

"Yup, and this," Asia's right hand briefly glows before revealing two silver rings with teal gems at the center of them, "is the reason why I never became an exorcist alongside my brother."

"Twilight Healing," Rias muttered under her breath.

I now jumped back into the conversation, knowing that we are now stepping on landmines, "After she was… relieved of her assigned duties at the church, my sensei would often let her tag along on our missions behind the church's back. Teaching her how to defend herself from the enemies we faced on our travels."

What I didn't tell them is that he never truly approved of the duties the church gave to his daughter. After Asia's excommunication he seems to have become constantly tired and on edge, as if he was afraid that something terrible will happen at any moment. I never fully understood what frightened him so, to the point of causing us to distance ourselves from the church little by little as each day passed. Of course I never forgot the look of relief he had on his face when he saw us off at the airport before Asia and I board the plane for Japan. Looking back now, I asked myself, did his daughter's excommunication affected him that badly?

"And trust me," I continued to explain, "Asia handles herself very well despite at least two years' worth of experience sparring her father and I and she knows everything she needs to know about the human body, including weak points."

"Grande fratello?"

"Yes, Asia?" I looked over, half expecting to see her blushing in embarrassment, instead she adopted an expression of resolve. Ah I remember now, she sometimes reverts back to Italian wherever she takes something seriously.

"It has been a while since we lasted sparred you know. And I'm pretty sure my skills had become rusty by now."

"Fighting skills yes, but your healing skills should be quite sharp after treating all the injuries I got while beating up thugs these past two years."

"Baka," Koneko lightly smacked my head, causing me to slightly wince.

"I see you have become over reliant on your little sister, Hyoudou-kun," Sona's spectacles suddenly became shiny white half-circles, making her look more intimidating than usual.

Yeah, she has a point as usual.

[**Hey at least there's someone watching your back ever since you moved here.**]

Yeah, I'm sure the church will quite thrilled to find out that my closest friends are devils.

[**And me, the most badass dragon in all existence!**]

Is the white one at all like you?

[**The white one? Please, that bastard has nothing on me.**]

I take it you two have been keeping score on all your battles then?

[**…**]

My thoughts exactly. Well might as well get something to eat now, I'm going to need fuel for my incredibly sore body.

"Hey are you sure you should be moving about now?" Rias called out in concern as I struggled to get to my feet.

I know my body is still suffering from the strain I placed on it but some of the pain had left me, enough for me to walk a few steps at least. A small hand grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me back confirming that Koneko has other ideas about my well-being.

"Look it's only a few steps," I told Koneko.

"No."

"Koneko's right," Asia placed both her hands on my chest, "Just let me look you over before you can get up."

Her rings emits neon green lights, the agonizing pain slowly replaced by a soothing sensation. I wiped the blood off my right arm revealing muscle tissue and blood vessels growing, moving like live fleshy colored tentacles until the very tips of the muscle strands meet and fuse together. As this happens my skin began closing up the slits, leaving a large somewhat tender pinkish area on my arm.

"Thanks," I mumbled as Asia and Koneko finally let me go.

"Issei," Rias said, "you sure recovered pretty fast, for a human."

"Well," Asia dismissed her rings, "he was always unusually resilient, especially when compared to the other initiates back at the church."

"Don't sell yourself short Imuto-chan," I rolled off the couch, landing on my palms and pushing myself onto my feet, "You had greatly improved thanks to my tendency to get injured."

"Right…" she replied, clearly not convinced by my argument.

"You know," Rias got off the couch and circled slowly around me, her sapphire-blue eyes critically analyzing me, "the strain from supporting a eight times boost should have crippled or killed you without Asia's help, yet you managed to recover enough without her help to move around a little bit despite recently making it out a battle. So how did you manage to survive that?"

I glance around the living room, finding that everyone looking at me expectantly for an answer. Even Akeno who managed to recover from… whatever it is that affected her during battle.

"Very high pain tolerance."

They blinked dumbly at my answer, "Are you serious?" Tsubasa broke the silence and shot me with a skeptical look, "I mean you are just a human, right?"

"Yeah, so?" I felt my eyebrows subconsciously furrow at those words, "I'm a trained exorcist remember?"

Rias stopped dead right in front of me, "Care to elaborate on that?"

"My sensei and adoptive father, Arthur Argento, taught me how to use my Scared Gear while Griselda Quarta took over the rest of my training."

Surely they knew about Griselda and her reputation as one of the most dangerous humans on the planet, right? I mean the seemingly innocent old lady pushed me through my training regimen like a slave-driver.

Rias' eyebrows briefly went up when I mentioned Griselda, "I guess… that is a plausible explanation, I can only imagine how her training gave you such high tolerance for pain."

"Oh my," Akeno said in a sultry voice, "I'm a little disappointed that you managed to keep this information from little old me, but now that I know how about we go have some alone time, just me and you, what do you say?"

I glance over to Akeno to respond but immediately regretted the witnessing the sight in front of me. I thought I had seen everything there is to know about her but no what I saw before was only the taste of her true colors. To think the depths of her demented mind were deeper than humanly possible.

Now an outsider watching would've thought I was exaggerating after all if you look past the dark aura surrounding her, you would probably see a buxom yet innocent looking Japanese beauty but you clearly don't know her like I do.

If one were to look closely, they would see her violet and seductive eyes staring at me hungrily, thinking ways to devour my body and soul. Her cheeks lighting up like the brightest red stars. And that smile, that horrific smile… The way she licked her lips, the light panting, and the smile that seems to promise endless pain and despair for all. No, no what have I done?!

[**Partner! It'll be alright.**]

No, NO it is not alright! I have doom us all! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE!

[**Whoa, whoa there you are just exaggerating. I mean it can't be that bad, r-right?**]

Ddraig, God and whoever the original Satan was are nothing compared to the horrors _she_ can unleash upon the world. Hell, she can probably make the Cthulhu her bitch if she wanted to. The apocalypse upon us Ddraig, and we are the ones who started it!

[**Partner, PARTNER SNAP OUT OF IT! The Earth will the same as it was tomorrow, trust me on this.**]

No, NO don't you deny your fate! The great plagues of Egypt will be bought back a thousand fold! Pigs will fly, couches will become potato gardens, and cats and dogs will rain from the skies!

[**… and he didn't even use a certain ability yet…**]

Angels and Devils becoming bros! The Moon splitting in two! And God revealing himself as Santa Claus!

[**Ah great, R.I.P. Issei's sanity…**]

THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE! THOSE EYES! THAT SMILE!

[**Oi, can one of you devils please bring back Issei's sanity?**]

Sharp pain around my torso is what caused my poor fragile sanity to burst out of its early grave.

[**Ah thank you Koneko, I knew he needed that hug.**]

I looked down to see two little arms crushing my ribs with a bear hug. The second thing I noticed is my left hand glowing with lime green light.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Issei-chan~," I glance back up to see Tomoe standing in front of me with a toothy grin before she lightly pats my head and prances back to her chair.

"Yeah," said Yuuto still leaning on the wall, "You had us a little worried there."

"So damn handsome, I take it we're good now?" It would be a shame if we became enemies.

"Of course, it is obvious you and the church have an estranged relationship now that I think about it. And if you were an assassin then you passed up many, many opportunities to kill us."

"But what if I happen to be one of those crazy nut jobs or a sadistic bastard bidding his time? What would you do then?"

"Well then, one of us can see a person's true nature by reading their life-force and one of us is a very capable telepath, and judging from your lack of usage in magic I can only assume that you can't mentally shield your thoughts," I can only gawk at Yuuto as he countered my argument with a calm, almost gentlemanlike demeanor, "Oh and they both know where you live."

"Touché," seriously this guy would be a great teacher.

"Though I would like to make one request," he stopped leaning on the wall and looked at me dead in the eyes, telling me that his request is to be taken seriously.

"What would that be?"

He suddenly bowed down before me, "I want you to be my sparring partner so I can greatly improve my skills to accomplish my life's goal!"

"A devil requesting an exorcist to be his sparring partner? My, the peace treaty must be working better than I thought. Still, my skills have gotten a bit rusty so I made not be able to improve your skills as much as you like."

"Wait, what do you mean? After all were you not trained by Griselda, one of the most famous wielders of _Excalibur_?" Yuuto said with a pleading tone though he said Excalibur with a hint of venom.

"Look if this reassures you then yes, she actually did use six of the Excaliburs in our later sparring matches, but I went two years without a sparring partner so yeah I don't think I am your answer to your problems. Besides, judging by our skills with a blade you are clearly the better swordsman because dual wielding is incredibly difficult to pull off naturally, even by seasoned swordsmen. All I have going for me is brute strength, reflexes, and my willingness to fight dirty."

"Are you willing to help me or not?" Yuuto asked me, now unsure what to do should I refuse.

"I …"

What can I do? It's not like I am the one to solve anyone's problems. I mean I'm a warrior by nature not a therapist.

Koneko's arms tighten around my ribs once more, though not into a bear hug thankfully, "Please…"

I craned my head around to see Koneko unleash the most deadly weapon in all of existence: puppy dog eyes.

"… Help Kiba-kun, I don't want him to suffer from his past anymore," she said in a quiet voice.

I closed my eyes before letting out a big sigh, "Ah geez, you really know how to rope me into this, don't you Koneko-chan?"

"Alright," I snap open my eyes and turned them towards Yuuto, "I don't know how much of a help I would actually be but I hope you'll find what you're looking for."

"Okay, as long as you agree to help me, I'll make sure you won't regret this," he said, his eyes burning with resolve.

"I hope you're right."

"Well," it appears Rias is attempting to break up the grim atmosphere, "is it okay if I ask you something, Issei?"

"If you are asking me to join your peerage then I'm afraid I have to say no."

Rias noticeably became crestfallen at those words, "I… I see. Well I could hardly blame you for your decision considering…"

I placed my right hand on her left shoulder, causing her to look up at me in surprise, "However I guess I will reconsider."

"You… Y-You mean it?" she glances back up, her eyes now shining like emeralds.

"Of course, Sona this applies to you to."

"Good," she moved herself next to Rias, "I was worried you had forgotten about me."

"Alright you listening?"

"Yes," they both said.

"You listening?"

"Y-Yes?" Rias said again.

"You listening?"

"Please, get to the point," Sona demanded.

"Alright, alright no need to make such a serious face Sona-chan," I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of a normally composed strict girl squirm and her face taking on the shade of a tomato as I ruffled up her hair. Ah yes embarrassment, the ultimate weakness of Sona and so much fun to exploit!

"Enough! Please you are almost as bad as my sister when you do that."

"Maybe you should introduce me to her so I can judge."

"NO!" she got my hand off her head and grabbed the front of my shirt, "You must not reveal your existence to my sister, **what so ever**."

"Your sister couldn't that bad, right?" In all honestly, I thought her sister is more or less like an even stricter version of Sona, as least that's what I thought when she first mention her because who else would she take after. Now it seems she likes to mess with Sona, how is unknown to me at the moment but I must be really close if she compared us like that.

"Issei-kun," she pulled me down until our faces are on even levels, "my sister is one of the most terrifying people I had the misfortune to know and trust me when I say that you **really** don't want to meet her especially due to our current living arrangements."

I glance towards Rias watching us awkwardly, "You grew up with Sona, right? Please tell me she is bluffing."

Rias shook her head as she replies in an exasperated tone, "No, I'm afraid she isn't bluffing, let's just say her sister has always acted… overly concerned towards her."

So Sona has an overprotective sister, well I suppose that is why she liked being independent.

"Eh…" she must have seen the look of shock now plastered on my face since she let go of my shirt.

"I take you want to move on to a different subject now?"

Sona silently nodded, no doubt eager to get this over with.

"Okay, I'm only reconsidering my choice out of respect of our friendship. In other words I might join either Rias' or Sona's peerage if one of you fulfill one condition."

"Really!" Rias grasped my hands eagerly, her face lit up like a child finding out that Christmas has come early, "Please I'll do anything you ask!"

"This is welcoming news to say the least," even though Sona sounds stoic, her eyes show great interest towards what I have to say, "It better not be anything too ridiculous."

"Okay all you have to do to get me to join is… convince me."

"Wait… wait what?!" Rias fell flat on her face, no doubt in shock from hearing my unexpected request.

"You know I didn't expect the one condition to be so… mundane," Sona pointed out.

"Because in the end I still get to choose whether I want to become a devil or not so I can only wish you good luck," then I paused, am I forgetting something? "By the way before I forget, who is making the bentos for one week?"

Dinner was surprisingly very pleasant even with more house guests than usual. Partly due to Asia's cooking and the revelation that I am still definitely a friend. Rias took the time to declare that I won't regret becoming a devil and tried to tempt me into joining her peerage by mentioning that I can become stronger and can get my own servants if I am promoted to the status of high-class devil, nothing I haven't heard from Sona when she too first tried to recruit me. Before long, we all said our farewells to get ready for school the next morning.

I came out of the bathroom after I brushed my teeth and opened the door of my bedroom.

Inside is my bed placed near a large window with closed white plastic blinds. The white walls have anime posters plastered all over them, some of them are gifts from Matsuda and Motohama after they introduced me to anime. A small desk with a small lamp, a pile of textbooks, and a swivel chair sits on my right against the wall while to my left is a large, dark, and wooden wardrobe where I store all my clothes.

I was stripping off my white socks, black jeans, and crimson sweatshirt when I heard the door opening behind me, causing me to turn just to find Sona standing in a navy blue satin nightdress.

"Um, S-Sona what are you doing here?" I froze, completely unsure what to do next with her now seeing me stripping off my clothes to reveal a red t-shirt and black boxers.

"I only want to see what my new bedroom is like, that's all," she's acting as if that is the most obvious reason why she is here in the first place.

"I thought you have your own bedroom," I hung my sweatshirt and jeans on the back of the swivel chair, "Did a colony of spiders take over it or something?"

"N-No," she brush past me and plops herself in the middle of my bed, "It's just that after you just announce you just have to convinced in order to become a devil, I decided to make sure that you should be given a fair chance to make your decision. After all, Rias might turn you in the middle of the night."

"Would she really do that? I mean Rias has always been reasonably fair."

"School life and the life of the heiress of the Gremory House are two different and very separate things Hyoudou-kun. And she has been quite desperate to get out of an arranged marriage for a few years now so she might do something rash."

"So, what's stopping you from doing the same?" I asked skeptically, "What is stopping you, Sona Sitri?"

She stare at me silently for a few minutes before she explains, "Because Issei, unlike Rias I worked to get where I am. Unlike Rias who had lady luck on her side when recruiting her peerage members, I had to painstakingly track down and convince the best ones I can find around here to join mine, and you know me Issei, that I will never ever cheat in my life and that is a promise."

Ah yes, pride, one of the seven deadly sins and ironically the one that made her seem more... human in a way. More willing to be considerate towards fellow classmates because she takes great pride in what she does, particularly her role as an authority figure.

"Alright, if two years in Japan without being converted into a devil isn't prove enough, I don't know what is," I said as I sat down next to Sona.

"True, Rias never really experience life outside that of a little princess hailed by all."

"And you're saying you haven't?"

She glances at me, frowning, "Are you saying that I to live a sheltered life?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I spent much of my life traveling to different countries, seeing everything there is to see," a bittersweet smile crept up my lips, "My adoptive father taught me that the world is a much bigger place than we thought and time and time again we had forgot that. And since you are the heiress of the House of Sitri, you probably had a similar upbringing as Rias did."

"So you are saying we don't know anything beyond our current life?"

"I guess though I could be wrong about this."

We sat in silence for what seems to be an eternity. Sona contemplating our conversation while I thought about my life before this one.

It was Sona who broke the silence, "You know we have school tomorrow so it wouldn't do to be late."

"Alright," I slipped myself under the blankets on the side closest to the window, "Say can I ask you a question, Sona?"

"What is it?" I could feel something warm press itself against me as it readjust itself into a more comfortable position.

I turn away from the window to see Sona lying next to me and in all my life I never thought that underneath the strict demeanor and glasses is a very stunning young woman. It was this day that I began to understand why she is widely considered an idol, it's like as if our fellow classmates saw something behind the mask she wore in public. Something mysterious yet desirable at the same time and I bore witness to a sight many had secretly wanted to see. But staring into those violet eyes, black bob cut, and fair skin reminded of someone who looked similar to her. Painfully reminded me of _her_…

"Oh did you like what you see?" a teasing smile appeared on her face, "After all, what's with the stunned look on your face?"

"…!"

When you're a supernatural creature I suppose otherworldly beauty has to be one of the criteria you can meet, no matter how ridiculous it can sometimes be. Is it wrong for a human and a supernatural creature to get together?

"I… I wanted to ask if Evil Pieces are necessary at all, seeing that humans and devils can interbreed just fine."

Sona frowned before she replied, "Look even though that is possible, the human genes will eventually dominate the devil genes. Not only that but you should've known better because that will inevitably expose humans to the supernatural world. Not only because the next generation will inexplicably have strange powers but because the humans will remember the fact that they shared a world with forces beyond their control. Back then that wasn't so back because most would leave the fighting to both allied factions and competent humans, now with even more humans than ever before and weapons of mass destruction, your own species as a whole is now considered a landmine we must trend upon with caution."

"But devils have longer lifespans than humans, right? I mean with enough given time, there could be a race of human-devil hybrids," coexistence is what they all want right?

"No, I'm afraid that is nothing more than an impossible dream, Issei," she replied somberly, her left hand gently stroking my cheek, "Most of the devils are simply to prideful to take the pragmatic route and no matter how many times humans or anyone else has put aside their differences, ignorance and prejudice will never leave us. That is why we can't be more than good friends had you stayed human. Such an action on our part would have dire consequences, especially towards you."

Dire consequences towards... us...

As if such a thing would happen between us.

"Well, that is a pretty persuasive argument to get me to become a devil and all," I reluctantly admitted after a few seconds of silence, "But I'll just wait a little longer until I reached a decision."

"Alright, it wouldn't be much of a contest if you ended early, so let's give it a whole year at least, does that sound reasonable?"

"Very, by the way what would have Rias done if she appeared in my room without turning me into a devil?"

"She will most definitely use you as a body pillow."

"Really, that doesn't sound so bad."

"She sleeps naked if that is what you also wanted to know."

Okay, that might present a few problems but nothing I couldn't handle. After all a few awkward mornings shouldn't be too bad.

"Oh and if Rias didn't show up, Akeno might because she now knows where you live."

"….. Sona…" I now know what I must do to protect myself at night.

"Yes?" a knowing smirk appear on her face.

"Welcome to your new room."

Oh how far we went since that day two years ago.

* * *

><p>Red…<p>

The color of the blood running off my right arm dangling uselessly.

The color of the gauntlet doomed to encase my left arm until my death.

The color of love.

The color of hate.

The color of the crimson sunset in the horizon.

The color of the sirens of investigating police cars, no doubt gathering below the building I'm standing on, drawn by the battle I won.

Still even if I am going behind bars, at least that Stray Devil I fought died, only God can have mercy on that monster.

I broke out of my thoughts as something very bright appeared behind me.

_Devils_, I thought as I spun around, my left thumb flicking the switch on my sword causing a blade of blue flames to appear once more, and pointed it at the glowing teleportation circle.

"So you are the one who stole our target," a stoic female voice said as a petite figure steps out of the rapidly fading circle.

"To be fair, your target attacked me first, _devil_," I hissed, still pointing my blade at her.

The light from the teleportation circle fade away, revealing the devil to be: a young Japanese-looking girl with a bob cut, wearing the female school uniform from the middle school Asia and I are attending, and wearing blue-rectangle glasses framing her violet eyes. Wait what is her name again?

"Hey you're the very strict class representative from 2-A!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Gosh, you do realized that it is rude to point at other people, right Hyoudou-san?"

"W-Wait you know who I am?"

"Of course, I did ended up cleaning up your messes throughout the year and you were partially responsible for the drop in crime rate around Kouh."

Well, apparently I've been turned into a thug magnet ever since I arrived in this city six months ago.

[**A dragon attracts many enemies, remember?**]

No thanks to you!

"Are you even listening to what I am saying, Hyoudou?" the Devil's voice cuts in through my conversation with Ddraig. Well to be fair, no one can actually hear what we're saying to each other.

"Oh yeah," I muttered absentmindedly, "Wait who are you again?"

"So," a dark aura suddenly began emitting from the petite girl standing in front of me, "You know of my reputation but you didn't know my name?!"

Ddraig, a little help?

[**Sorry but this is beyond me. I would advise you to run though.**]

You never told me you had a girlfriend.

[**I never said I had one…**]

That doesn't sound good, wait maybe is something I could do to get out of this.

A blade poking my back rapidly changed my mind, "I wouldn't think about doing anything to Kaichou if I were you, Hyoudou," another stoic one has popped up! Wait then the one standing in front of me is the king while the one behind me is either a knight or a queen. Lady Luck is definitely smiling down at me today.

"What do you want?" I said with the best commanding tone I can muster as I reluctantly lower my blade.

"For starters," the she-devil replied, "I wanted to meet the current Sekiryuutei who turns out to be not only the school delinquent that has been beating up any bully or thug he's come across but also an exorcist which raises a few concerns for my fellow brethren."

"Look I don't have any quarrel with your species but I will never associate myself with any of you."

"You are only being delusional if you think someone like you can ever live a normal life, especially with abilities like yours. Besides just consider yourself fortunate that Rias Gremory and her peerage are out of town today otherwise they would've been the ones to confront you instead."

From the way the strict class representative worded that sentence, it sounded like Rias is apparently less reasonable than herself. Wait Rias is also a devil?

[**For an exorcist, you sure are terrible at detecting devils.**]

Well I was never much of a tracker anyways.

"I… promised," I said quietly.

A raised eyebrow told me to continue on.

"I promised my adoptive father that I will live a life without the supernatural being involved. If not for myself then for my sister!" I declared boldly.

"Your efforts would be rendered moot, Hyoudou," she argued back, "There are some devils out there that won't take no for an answer. The best way you can protect your sister and yourself is if you both join either my peerage or Rias' peerage, that way at least you won't be forced to join a peerage ruled by a tyrannical king or someone even worse. Think of this as the lesser of two evils."

I paused for a bit, she really does have a point but what would my father, Arthur Argento do in a situation like this.

I raised my sword again, "No," I said firmly.

"Don't be a fool, Hyoudou!"

"Like I said earlier, I will never associate myself with someone like you," I glared coldly at her, "If my actions today will spark another war, so be it."

Am I being suicidal? Perhaps but I didn't really care, I don't how many they will send when I strike this one down but I'll make sure to take as many of them down as I can with me to hell.

"You're intend to fight us even if you found out that my sister is one of the most powerful devils in all of existence?" she fold her arms, her frown grew deeper with each passing second.

"If it is the only way I can protect Asia, then I'll make sure to put your species on the endangered species list."

"Don't push your luck," the one pushing a blade against my back said, "You are in no condition to take on both Kaichou and I in a fight to the death."

"I've been through worse," I replied coolly.

"Kaichou," she press the blade deeper into my back, "What should we do with him?"

The devil standing front of me pondered for a bit before reaching one decision that will surely end this, "Tsubaki, stand down and leave us alone for a few minutes."

"W-What?! B-But Kaichou tha-!"

"I said stand down!"

The devil now identified as Tsubaki reluctantly pulled away.

"Don't worry Tsubaki," her king reassured her the best she could, "I only just need a few minutes to talk to Hyoudou that is all."

"Fine," I heard footsteps getting farther away from me, "Don't do anything to Kaichou, Hyoudou. Otherwise I'll be forced to intervene and you'll definitely won't see me coming."

I looked behind to see… nothing. I guess I only have myself to blame for focusing all my attention on one devil, I thought as I turned my attention back to the class representative.

"You know, you never did asked me for my name despite admitting that you didn't know. Why is that?"

"Do I have a reason to ask an enemy?"

"No, I suppose I'll didn't give you one so I'll tell you anyways," she place her right palm on her chest, "My name is Sona Sitri or as many of our classmate know me, Souna Shitori and I do not wish to be your enemy."

"What is the catch then? What is it that you want from me in exchange for this so called ceasefire?" could anyone really blame me for being suspicious of her?

Sona looked up at the night sky as she explains herself, "As you are now, reincarnating you would only be proved most troublesome. Mainly because you would risk becoming a stray devil due your distrust of devils in general and may have to spend the rest of your life as a fugitive if that were to happen. Personally I wouldn't want to condemn you to a fate like that or start another war. After all, I had grown to love the peaceful times in this era. That is why I decided to help you keep a relatively low profile, Hyoudou."

"What? W-Why?" Why does she want to help me? I haven't done anything that warrant any type of assistance from her. In fact I have been doing the exact opposite of asking for help.

She turned her attention back to me, "Make no mistake, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for the future of every supernatural being on this planet, especially Rias. She will most likely try to recruit you by any means necessary when she finds out your true capabilities and in mind that she gained her peerage members by saving them from life-threatening situations. Besides in exchange for you remaining incognito from Rias and her peerage, I only wished to keep a close eye on you just to make sure you aren't a threat. Does that sound reasonable?"

We stared at each other, each second ticking by as my left arm still pointing my sword at her protest when I refused to let it drop down, "Do I have your word?" I asked as calmly as I could.

"Oh my honor as the heiress of the Sitri family, I Sona Sitri shall honor these terms," she announced in a proud yet graceful manner.

I turned off my light sword as my way of saying that I agree with set terms because hey I may or may not keep a low profile here, a bit of a fifty-fifty chance really so might as well take the opportunity to learn of her true intentions.

Asia was surprised to say the very least after we managed to get to my house, after all I showed up with a broken right and covered in cuts and bruises with a petite yet strict looking girl and her slightly taller, more developed, and heterochromic best friend wielding a Naginata. Yep definitely a common occurrence when you answered the door bell.

Still she is informed of our situation and the meeting ended with Sona announcing that she is moving into our house despite my and Tsubaki's protests. In the end though I only agreed because she promised she will move out as soon as she confirmed that we aren't threats, little did we know is that we had come to accept each other for who we are in the days to come.

That is how Sona and I first met.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's Chapter 2 folks.<strong>

**Now I will admit that the title is a little boring but it is the best I could come up with at the time.**

**I am also willing to admit that most of my knowledge of this universe came from the wiki which didn't have many detailed articles, fan-fiction or at least the reoccurring elements presented in them, and the first four episodes of the anime adaptation of the light novels.**

**Yeah I honestly truly didn't know that much about the universe of DxD, so a little help is appreciated.**

**In other news, I am introducing the OC of the fic named Arthur Argento and his only influence in the plot is the upbringing of both Issei and Asia.**

**Heck he will only appear in key flashback scenes, meaning he won't interact with the main protagonists throughout the majority of the plot.**

**For now I'll just leave his fate ambiguous until much later.**

**As for the protagonists being in the same grade, I figured that hey why not have this start at the beginning of high school and end at their graduation. Because with a series called 'Highschool DxD' why not have the whole story take place throughout their high school years.**

**As for Issei and Asia.**

**Asia has a slightly different personality because she actually has a family in her back story.**

**Issei, because he is raised by an exorcist at a church and from what I gathered from the characters raised in churches, they don't get much exposure from the outside world. Instead they seem to focus on honing their skills and carrying themselves with great discipline.**

**Well that is all I have to say, so have a great day.**


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